The New York Women’s Equality Party (WEP) ballot line is being sought by “several hundred” candidates running in local elections this year, Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul told reporters on Wednesday in New York City. “This year, the very first year it’s been assembled and put together, we’re actually going to have several hundred people running on that line in the state of New York,” she said at a rally for Women’s Equality Day, which was attended by prominent former and current officeholders, including Christine Quinn, now an advisor to Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The Women’s Equality Party ballot line was formed last year by Gov. Andrew Cuomo as a way to promote the 10-point women’s agenda, a package of bills that has largely become law since their introduction, save for a measure designed to enhance abortion rights in the state.
For now, the candidates seeking the WEP line are running in largely local races, but they will have to fill out a questionnaire to qualify for the endorsement. Hochul suggested the current off-year cycle was a chance to gear up before 2016, when all 213 legislative seats are up for re-election in the Senate and Assembly.
There are a handful of special elections to fill vacancies in the Legislature, including a closely watched race between Republican Fred Akshar and Democrat Barbara Fiala, the latter of whom was endorsed by Cuomo quickly after Tom Libous surrendered his seat in the chamber following a felony conviction last month.
Fiala, the interim leader of the Women’s Equality Party, was not at the rally in New York City today.
Hochul added the party is “watching very closely” the narrowly divided state Senate, where Republicans hold a razor-thin majority.
Senate Democratic candidates and incumbents did seek the Women’s Equality Party ballot line in 2014, though many struggled to file the necessary petitions.
Liberal critics of Cuomo accused him of creating the ballot line in order to starve votes from the Working Families Party, a labor-backed organization that nearly endorsed a Democratic rival, Zephyr Teachout.
In the end, the WEP gained more than 50,000 votes necessary to achieve ballot status for the next 4 years.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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